Gift card services for mobile devices

ABSTRACT

Methods and apparatus, including computer program products, for gift card services. In general, data characterizing a request to provide a merchant credit service to an intended recipient is received and a message to be sent to the intended recipient is generated, where the message characterizes a phone number to call to activate the merchant credit service. Data characterizing authentication by a call to the phone number to activate the merchant credit service from the mobile phone number of the intended recipient is received, where the authentication includes checking caller identification of the call to ensure the call is from the mobile phone number of the intended recipient. The merchant credit service is activated. Credit associated with an account of a merchant credit service may be redeemed by providing an account number of the service. Redemption may be authorized based on caller identification of a mobile phone number associated with an account.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional and claims the benefit of U.S.application Ser. No. 11/843,598, filed Aug. 22, 2007, entitled “GIFTCARD SERVICES FOR MOBILE DEVICES” which in turn claims priority to U.S.Provisional Patent Application entitled “GIFT CARD SERVICES FOR MOBILEDEVICES”, filed Aug. 22, 2006, Application Ser. No. 60/839,468, and U.S.Provisional Patent Application entitled “GIFT CARD SERVICE FOR MOBILEDEVICES”, filed Jan. 30, 2007, Application Ser. No. 60/898,476. Thecontents of the aforementioned applications are hereby fullyincorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND

The present disclosure relates to data processing by digital computer,and more particularly to gift card services for mobile devices.

Gift cards may provide a form of payment for a particular merchant thatmay be used at a point of sales. For example, a clothing retailer mayissue plastic gift cards that include magnetic strips similar to creditcards, where the gift cards are associated with credit to pay forpurchases. A shopper may buy a gift card from the retailer and give itto a friend. Then, the friend may try to purchase clothing from theretailer by using the gift card, where the gift card may be swipedthrough a point of sales terminal similar to swiping of a credit card.At the retailer, backend systems may determine whether a sufficientamount of credit exists for the gift card and the purchase may be whollyor partially paid by credit associated with the gift card.

SUMMARY

The subject matter disclosed herein provides methods and apparatus,including computer program products, that implement techniques relatedgift card services for mobile devices.

In one general aspect, first data characterizing a request to provide amerchant credit service to an intended recipient is received and amessage to be sent to the intended recipient is generated, where themessage characterizes a phone number to call to authenticate activationof the merchant credit service. Second data characterizingauthentication by a call to the phone number to activate the merchantcredit service from the mobile phone number of the intended recipient isreceived, where the authentication includes checking calleridentification of the call to ensure the call is from the mobile phonenumber of the intended recipient. The merchant credit service isactivated.

In a related aspect, data characterizing a request to use a feature of amerchant credit service by a mobile device having an associated mobilephone number is received through a message in accordance with amessaging protocol, and the mobile device is associated with an accountbased on the mobile phone number obtained from caller identificationidentifying the mobile phone number of the mobile device from which themessage was sent, where the account is associated with the merchantcredit service. The feature of the merchant credit service is provided.

In a related aspect, data characterizing a request to use a feature of amerchant credit service by a mobile device having an associated mobilephone number is received through an interactive voice response telephonesystem, and the mobile device is associated with an account based on themobile phone number obtained from caller identification to theinteractive voice response telephone system, where the account isassociated with the merchant credit service. The feature of the merchantcredit service is provided.

In a related aspect, data characterizing a request to provide a wirelessgift card service to an intended recipient is received, where thewireless gift card service is to be provided by a wireless gift cardserver in communication with a physical gift card account server thatstores balances for wireless gift cards. A message is generated for theintended recipient that includes a wireless gift card of a startingbalance.

In a related aspect, data characterizing a request to activate a plasticgift card including an account number is received and the plastic giftcard is activated. The activating includes associating the accountnumber with an account of a wireless gift card service.

The subject matter may be implemented as, for example, computer programproducts (e.g., as source code or compiled code tangibly embodied incomputer-readable media), computer-implemented methods, and systems.

Variations may include one or more of the following features.

The merchant credit service may include a feature for increasingmerchant credit.

The merchant credit service may be managed through a web site.

The merchant credit service may operate without the use of a client-sideapplication at the mobile device other than a messaging serviceapplication provided by a carrier of mobile services with the mobiledevice.

Receiving data characterizing a request to provide a merchant creditservice may include receiving data characterizing personalization to amessage to be generated for an intended recipient, where the messageincludes the personalization.

Use of merchant card services associated with a mobile phone number maybe tracked.

A targeted marketing promotional message may be caused to be sent to amobile phone number, where the targeted marketing is based on trackingof the use of the merchant card services.

A determination may be made as to whether a mobile device supportsMultimedia Messaging Service (MMS) messages based on a phone number, alookup of a model of the mobile device based on the phone number, and alookup of features of the mobile device based on the model. If a devicesupports MMS messages, a message being an MMS message may be sent to thedevice; otherwise, the message may be a Short Message Service message.

Data characterizing authentication by a call to the phone number toactivate the merchant credit service may include a first code toassociate with the merchant credit service. An association of the firstcode with the merchant credit service may be stored. Data including arequest to authorize a transaction associated with an account number forthe merchant credit service may be received. A request for data toauthorize the transaction may be made. Data characterizing a second codemay be received. A determination may be made as to whether the secondcode matches the first code. If the second code matches the first code,the transaction may be authorized; otherwise, the transaction may bedeclined.

A message may include a bar code corresponding to an account numberassociated with a merchant credit service. Data including a request toauthorize a transaction associated with the account number for themerchant credit service may be received, where the request is based on ascan of the bar code. The transaction may be authorized based at leastin part on the account number being authorized for the transaction.

All or portions of the aspects may be performed by a wireless gift cardserver that connects to a gift card server that contains gift cardaccount information for plastic gift cards.

Multiple merchant credit services may be associated with a same accountbased on a same phone number of an intended recipient.

Data including a request to activate a plastic gift card including anaccount number may be received. The plastic gift card may be activated,where the activating includes associating the account number with anaccount of a merchant credit service. The request may be based on a callor text message including an indication of the account number. A requestto activate a plastic gift card may be part of a request to activate amerchant credit service or vice versa.

Data including a request for balance remaining for the merchant creditservice may be received. A message may be caused to be sent to a mobilephone number, where the message includes data characterizing thebalance.

A merchant credit service may be a service of pre-paid credit forpurchasing products or services of a merchant.

A feature of a merchant credit service may include a balance remainderfeature and providing the feature may include causing a message to bemessage to a mobile device including data characterizing a remainingbalance of credit associated with the merchant credit service of themobile device.

Communication with a physical gift card account server may be performedto generate an account comprising the starting balance. A request tosettle a transaction with a wireless gift card may be received, where arequest to settle a transaction includes an account number. A wirelessgift card database may be queried to determine an account of a physicalgift card associated with the account number, and a physical gift cardaccount server may be queried for a current balance of the account.Settlement of a transaction for the current balance of the account maybe authorized.

A message characterizing a notification of an authorization ofsettlement of a transaction may be generated, where the message is to besent to an intended recipient of a wireless gift card.

Generating a message may include generating a message to cause to betransmitted as part of an application programming interface call to amessaging server.

Activating a plastic gift card may include authenticating a request toactivate a plastic gift card based on caller identification. Theauthenticating may involve determining whether a caller has a same phonenumber as a mobile phone number associated with the wireless gift card.Activating a plastic gift card may include contacting a wireless giftcard account server to determine a balance to apply to an account of theplastic gift card.

The subject matter described herein can be implemented to realize one ormore of the following advantages. Merchants may be allowed to delivergift cards via mobile networks (e.g., cellular networks) usingcarrier-agnostic technology (e.g., SMS (Short Message Service)/MMS(Multimedia Messaging Service) or another delivery protocol). Forexample, a gift card may be purchased in a web browser via a webservice, and, a merchant (e.g., an entity that provides goods, services,or both, such as STARBUCKS, MCDONALDS, HOME DEPOT, NORDSTROM, and thelike) may deliver information pertaining to the gift card to a mobiledevice, such as a cellular phone. Providing gift cards to wirelessdevices may allow for quick and easy transfer of gift cards from agifter to a recipient, allow for wireless account balance information,and allow for gift card information to be easily carried with a mobiledevice (e.g., as people may carry a mobile device often, as opposed togift cards, and, multiple gift card accounts may be easily carried on awireless device instead of with many physical cards). The gift cards andrelated services may operate without the use of a client-sideapplication at the mobile device other than a messaging serviceapplication provided by a carrier of mobile services with the mobiledevice, which may advantageously make acceptance and use of wirelessgift cards more simple. The wireless gift cards may be authenticatedduring activation, settlement of transactions, and the like, whereauthentication may include, as examples, caller identification andpersonal codes associated with wireless gift cards. Value of thewireless gift cards may be increased (e.g., through returns ofmerchandise or payment for additional merchant credit), which mayadvantageously retain customers of a merchant. Multiple gift cards maybe managed simultaneously from a same account (e.g., through a website). Value may be moved from a wireless gift card to a physical giftcard. For example, if a merchant wants to only allow redemption of cardsat a point of sales via plastic cards, yet desires an ability to delivercard values wirelessly, card value may be tied to a mobile phone numberand transferred to a physical, plastic gift card. A wireless gift cardmay be personalized by themes, text messages, audio, images, video, andthe like. The wireless gift cards may be tracked and used as a customerloyalty system which may allow for sending of promotions and the like. Awireless gift card may be used as a data mining opportunity for amerchant and an opportunity for delivering promotional content. Forexample, gift card usage may be tracked and promotions may be sent to amobile device based on usage. In contrast to physical gift cards whichmight not be tied to a same customer, as wireless gift cards areassociated with a same mobile phone number, a longer history of trackingcustomer trends may be possible (e.g., as a customer switches from onewireless gift card to another their purchasing trends may be tied to asame account by a same mobile phone number). Thus, a collection offeatures may allow for a merchant to generate an ongoing, interactiveexperience with customers.

Details of one or more implementations are set forth in the accompanyingdrawings and in the description below. Further features, aspects, andadvantages will become apparent from the description, the drawings, andthe claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system for mobile device gift cardservices that includes a merchant web site, merchant gift card point ofsales system, and a wireless gift card server.

FIG. 2A is a diagram illustrating a user interface from which to requesta wireless gift card.

FIG. 2B is a diagram illustrating a wireless gift card on a mobiledevice.

FIGS. 3A-3B are diagrams illustrating user interfaces for managingwireless gift cards.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a process to activate a merchantcredit service.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a process to provide a feature of amerchant credit service.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a process to settle a transactionwith a merchant credit service.

Like reference numbers and designations in the various drawings indicatelike elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In general, in FIGS. 1-6, gift cards may be referred to as wireless giftcards or “WGIFTCARDS,” as the gift cards may be delivered via wirelessnetworks. A physical (e.g., plastic) gift card might not be issued and,instead, information pertaining to the wireless gift card, such as agift card number may be delivered via wireless networks. Wireless giftcards may exist in addition to existing physical gift cards or, wirelessgift card balance may be tied or transferred to a physical gift card.

Services offered in connection with gift cards may be referred to asmerchant credit services. Merchant credit services may include giftcards; other forms of payment based on merchant credit, such aselectronic cards that hold store credit; loyalty programs associatedwith gift cards; and the like. Thus, wireless gift cards may be used toperform transactions, such as purchasing goods or services, receivingcredit from returned purchases, and the like.

In general, a wireless gift card is purchased by a person who may bereferred to as a gifter or purchaser, and is designated for sending toan intended recipient. The phrase “intended recipient” may be usedinterchangeably to refer to a mobile phone number associated with aperson and a mobile device, the person, or the mobile device.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system 100 for wireless gift cardservices that includes a merchant web site 102, merchant gift card pointof sales system 104, and a wireless gift card server 106. In general,the system 100 may be used by a first user 108 to cause a wireless giftcard to be sent to the second user 110 and to allow the second user 110to complete transactions using the wireless gift card. To cause awireless gift card to be sent to the second user 110, the first user 108may access the merchant web site 102 through the internet access 112from the first computer system 114 to purchase a wireless gift card.Then, the merchant web site 102 may contact the wireless gift cardserver 106 through the internet access 116 to cause a wireless gift cardto be generated at the wireless gift card server 106, which may send awireless gift card as a message through the SMS (Short MessageService)/MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) network 118 to the mobiledevice 120.

The second user 110 may complete transactions using a wireless gift cardfrom a second computer system 122 or from a merchant point of salessystem 124. From the second computer system 122, the second user 110 mayconnect to the merchant web site 102 through the internet access 126 topurchase goods or services online. From the merchant point of salessystem 124, the second user 110 may use a wireless gift card to purchasegoods or services at a physical store, also referred to as a brick andmortar store. From the merchant web site 102, a transaction may becompleted through internet access 116 to the wireless gift card server106 to settle accounts at the wireless gift card server 106 and a giftcard account server 128 of the merchant through application programminginterface (API) calls through an internet access 130 supporting virtualprivate networking (VPN). From the merchant point of sales system 124, atransaction may be completed by settling accounts with the gift cardaccount server 128 and the wireless gift card server 106 by API callsthrough the internet access 130.

The first and second computer systems 114, 122 may be any type ofcomputer system, such as a personal computer system, which may include adesktop or laptop computer. The first and second computer systems 114,122 may have wired or wireless internet access 112, 126. The internetaccess 114, 122 of the first and second computer systems 114, 122includes HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol) and may include otherprotocols as well. For example, the first computer system may use HTTPS(HTTP Secure) to complete a credit card transaction to pay for awireless gift card at the merchant web site 102. In general, the firstand second computer systems may use a web browser (e.g., INTERNETEXPLORER, FIREFOX, NETSCAPE, AMERICAN ONLINE, and the like) to interpretcontent, such as web pages, from the merchant web site 102.

The merchant web site 102 is a web site maintained by a merchant who mayoffer wireless gift cards for sale, and other goods or services forsale. In general, a merchant is a provider of goods, services, or both.An example user interface of a merchant web site is illustrated in FIG.2A. As part of a process of purchasing a wireless gift card at themerchant web site 102, a user may be allowed to personalize a wirelessgift card. Personalizations that may be supported at the merchant website 102 may include text and multimedia, such as images, audio, video,or any combination of text and multimedia. As part of personalization,merchants may provide themes, personal messages, and the like for awireless gift card. For example, a wireless gift card may be provided inan MMS message that includes a personal message wishing a person a happybirthday, and the message may include pictures and formatting intendedto provide a birthday theme (e.g., background wallpaper, color, font andimages for types of wireless gift card to display, such as a picture ofballoons for a birthday). For example, themes may be provided viadefault templates that can be selected via a web browser, such as themesfor birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, and the like. In addition,merchant advertisements may be included in a wireless gift card.Wireless gift cards that are personalized with multimedia may besupported by wireless protocols such as MMS while messages personalizedsolely with text may be supported by SMS.

In addition to including personalizations of a wireless gift card, awireless gift card may include an account number that may be used at themerchant point of sales system 124 or the merchant web site 102 tocomplete transactions. The account number may be the same as ordifferent from an account number used to identify a gift card in thegift card account information database 136 of the gift card accountserver 128. In addition to an account number, a wireless gift card mayinclude an amount of a wireless gift card. Also, the wireless gift cardmay include a bar code representing the number which may be scanned atthe merchant point of sales system 124. A bar code may only be includedwhere a feature set of the mobile device 120 includes support for barcodes, which may be limited, as examples, to mobile devices that includesupport for MMS messaging or further refined to mobile devices thatsupport display of images of a sufficient quality for bar code scanning(e.g., some mobile devices may support MMS messaging but a reproductionquality of a bar code on the mobile devices might not be sufficient forsupporting scanning of a bar code such that a bar code might not be sentto such a device, which may advantageously avoid confusion or problemsrelated to attempting to scan a bar code from such a device).

In some implementations, in addition to sending a wireless gift card toa mobile device, a wireless gift card may be sent to an address otherthan a mobile phone number, which may allow for personalizations to beviewed from a computer system. For example, wireless gift cards may besent to an electronic mail address in accordance with SMTP (Simple MailTransfer Protocol), or to a user message account of a social networkingweb site. In some implementations, a message sent to an intendedrecipient of a wireless gift card may include a link to a wireless giftcard (e.g., included in an SMS message for use through a WAP (WirelessApplication Protocol) or HTTP-enabled browser of a mobile device).

While the merchant web site may accept purchase of, and personalizationsto, wireless gift cards, the wireless gift cards and related messagesmay be generated by the wireless gift card server 106 in concert withthe SMS/MMS network 118. For example, the merchant web site 102 mayaccept an order for a wireless gift card, which may be sent to thewireless gift card server 106, which may generate an account at theaccount information database 132, and cause a message to be generatedthrough the SMS/MMS network 118.

The SMS/MMS network 118 may be one or more wireless carriers thatprovide mobile data services for mobile devices, such as the mobiledevice 120. Messages generated for the SMS/MMS network may be generatedby messages from the wireless gift card server 106. For example, acarrier may provide an API for generating SMS and MMS messages, and thewireless gift card server 106 may generate a message in accordance withthe API which is sent by an API call to the SMS/MMS network 118 whichcauses a message to be sent to the mobile device 120.

To send appropriate features of messages to appropriate devices, theSMS/MMS network 118 includes a phone data database 134, which mayinclude data that relates phone numbers to phone models and phonefeatures. For example, the wireless gift card server 106 may query acarrier of the SMS/MMS network 118 for a feature set of a mobile devicehaving a phone number of an intended recipient of a wireless gift card.Then, the SMS/MMS network 118 may perform a look up of the phone datadatabase 134 to determine which features are supported by the phone anda set of features may be returned to the wireless gift card server 106.Then, based on the features supported by the mobile device, the wirelessgift card server 106 may generate an appropriate message that includesthose features supported by the device. For example, a mobile device maysupport only SMS messages in which case the wireless gift card server106 may generate an SMS message instead of an MMS message includingphotos and music that was selected by a gifter, and cause the SMSmessage to be transmitted through the SMS/MMS network 118. As anotherexample, a mobile device may support MMS messages in which case an MMSmessage is generated by the wireless gift card server 106 and caused tobe transmitted through the SMS/MMS network 118. In some implementations,feature sets of a mobile device associated with a mobile phone numbermay be split across lookups in different databases. For example, thephone data database 134 may be able to respond to queries of a mobiledevice model associated with a mobile phone number, however it might notrespond with a feature set or the set of features might not beappropriate for the wireless gift card server 106. Based on a mobiledevice model, the wireless gift card server 106 may have a set offeatures and preferences for mobile device models that are used whengenerating a wireless gift card. As another example, if a user of amobile device has not subscribed to any messaging services, the wirelessgift card server might not generate a message in that scenario and mayinstead send a message to an electronic mail address including awireless gift card.

Although a granularity of features may include SMS and MMS support,further granularity and types of features may be detailed and support toadapt messages to those features may be provided. For example, althougha phone may accept MMS messages, it may only accept certain types ofaudio files, such that a format of an audio file included in a wirelessgift card may be tailored to a type of audio format supported by amobile device.

The mobile device 120 may be mobile phone, personal digital assistant,and the like. In general, the mobile device 120 is associated with amobile phone number that may be used to send data messages to the mobiledevice 120 and may be used to make phone calls. The mobile device 120may support SMS messaging, MMS messaging, other protocols, or acombination of protocols. Messages in accordance with a protocol may behandled by an application of the mobile device that is provided as adefault application for supporting the protocol. Advantageously,wireless gift cards may be accepted without requiring a new clientapplication to be provided to the mobile device 120. In addition, aswireless gift cards may be sent using SMS, MMS, or both, the wirelessgift cards may be carrier and device agnostic, which may providepredictable acceptance of wireless gift cards on the mobile device 120(e.g., with an exception for carriers disabling data messaging without aservice subscription), allow for carriers to not approve new clientapplications, and allow for purchasers of wireless gift cards to not becognizant of a carrier or platform of an intended recipient. Forexample, the mobile device 102 may receive and store wireless gift cardsin a similar fashion as other SMS or MMS messages.

When purchasing a wireless gift card, the merchant web site 102 contactsthe wireless gift card server 106 to generate the wireless gift cardmessage, as described above. In addition to generating the message, thewireless gift card server 106 may generate an account in the accountinformation database 132 associated with the wireless gift card server106. The account may include information related to a wireless giftcard, such as a mobile phone number of an intended recipient, an accountnumber of a wireless gift card (e.g., an account number that may be usedat the merchant point of sales system 124 to identify a wireless giftcard to be used for a transaction), a phone feature set of an intendedrecipient, a purchaser of a wireless gift card, personalizationinformation related to a wireless gift card (e.g., a text message or avoice recording), a security code (e.g., a PIN (personal identificationnumber)) associated with a wireless gift card, notification preferences,associations among the combinations of information, and the like.

In some implementations, multiple wireless gift cards may be associatedwith a same mobile phone number, while each wireless gift card has aseparate account number. In those implementations, a single account mayexist that organizes all of the wireless gift cards together or theremay be separate accounts that may be organized by a query to for a listof wireless gift cards associated with a mobile phone number. Wherethere is a single account for multiple wireless gift cards, accountpreferences and account information may be applied uniformly across allwireless gift cards associated with the account. For example, a PIN maybe associated with an account for use in managing wireless gift cards atthe wireless gift card server 106, and notification preferences fortransactions performed with wireless gift cards may be applied uniformlyacross all wireless gift cards associated with the account.

In addition to the wireless gift card server 106 generating accountinformation for a wireless gift card, the wireless gift card server 106may contact the gift card account server 128 through API calls 130 togenerate a gift card account at a merchant point of sales gift cardsystem 104. The merchant point of sales gift card system 104 may beseparate from the wireless gift card server 106 as the merchant point ofsales gift card system 104 may be a legacy system used for physical giftcards that may be connected with the wireless gift card server 106 toadd wireless gift card support. The gift card account server 128 mayhold master account balance records in the account information database136. For example, when generating a wireless gift card, the wirelessgift card server 106 may contact the gift card account server 128 togenerate a gift card account as it would for a physical gift card andthat account may be used to maintain a master balance for a wirelessgift card, while the wireless gift card server account informationdatabase 132 may be used to hold other information used for providingwireless gift card services that differ from a physical gift card system(e.g., as a mobile phone number used for sending a wireless gift card isnot associated with a physical gift card).

By having the gift card account server 128 act as a holder of masterrecords for account balance, a wireless gift card may be used at amerchant point of sales system 124 or through a merchant web site 102,and an account balance may be kept consistent and current. In addition,wireless gift cards may be used at a merchant point of sales system 124with few, if any, modifications to the gift card point of sales system104. For example, the merchant point of sales system 124 need notcontact the wireless gift card server 106 to update it as to accountchanges at the gift card account server 128. In some implementations, anaccount balance may be synchronized across various account balanceservers (e.g., one for brick and mortar sales and one for web sitesales). In addition to holding account balances, other information maybe maintained at the gift card account server 128, such as anauthorization code associated with a gift card account.

The wireless gift card server 106 may be hardware, software, or both,that includes an application programming interface (“API”), web service,and user interface (e.g., a LINUX or MICROSOFT WINDOWS web server withHTTP and HTTPS web services). In addition to causing messages to besent, the wireless gift card server 106 may cause messages to bereceived from a mobile device. Messages that may be received andserviced by the server may include, as an example, requests for balanceinformation. To cause messages to be sent to a mobile device, the servermay interface with servers of mobile carriers (e.g., through the SMS/MMSnetwork 118, as described above). An API of the server or other means ofcommand interface may be implemented as XML (eXtensible Markup Language)over HTTP (also referred to as SOAP, Simple Object Access Protocol);embedded objects, such as COM (Component Object Model) or JAVAreferences; a non-standard command protocol over TCP (TransmissionControl Protocol; e.g., Telnet); or using a standard delivery method,such as SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol), used in electronic mail.

For example, an API that a merchant may interface with to provide a webservice through a user interface that is transferred to a user of a webbrowser for display and interaction. The API may provide a way for amerchant to interface accounting of gift card information to thewireless gift card server 106. As an example, from a merchant website/shopping cart, a new gift card may be issued for a phone number Xwith balance of Y through an API call to the wireless gift card server106. The wireless gift card server 106 may, in response, cause a messageto be sent to the mobile device 120 with phone number X. In addition, anexisting gift card accounting system may be used to associate thebalance Y with the account number. As another example, from a merchantweb site/shopping cart, a physical gift card may be turned into awireless gift card linked to a phone number X. As another example, fromthe merchant point of sale system 124, an account number Z may beupdated with a new balance of Y.

While wireless gift cards may be activated once they are sent, inimplementations, activation may be a required process of receipt of awireless gift card. For example, a user may receive a wireless gift cardand may be invited to call a wireless gift card IVR (interactive voiceresponse) system to activate a wireless gift card.

Authentication techniques, mechanisms, or both may be involved inprovision and use of wireless gift cards. One technique may involve theuse of authorization codes which may be referred to as “secret” PINs,which may be used in conjunction with wireless gift cards by allowingusers (e.g., a recipient or sender of a wireless gift card) to set asecret PIN. A PIN may be set up as part of an initial process ofactivating a wireless gift card. For example, an intended recipient of awireless gift card may first receive a personalized message informingthem they have received merchant credit and an invitation to call aphone number to activate the wireless gift card. Then, authenticationfor setting up a PIN may be handled by caller identification of a mobiledevice and an intended recipient (e.g., making sure a phone numberassociated with a wireless gift card is the phone number dialing to setup a PIN).

PINs may be set up using a combination of techniques and mechanisms,such as an IVR system, short code numbers, and the like. For example, auser may be able to dial into a system to set up a PIN via a voicenetwork and touch tone dialing the PIN via a key pad (e.g., a mobilephone key pad). As another example, a PIN may be setup and then used bya recipient by replying to a wireless gift card short code number (e.g.,to dial the wireless gift card system) after receiving the wireless giftcard. For example, a wireless gift card may be received by a mobilephone from a short code #12345. The recipient may call the short code#12345 with a voice call and the call may be routed to a voice system tosetup a PIN similar to credit cards and ATM (automated teller machine)bank cards.

Multiple wireless gift cards associated with a same mobile phone numbermay use a same PIN that a recipient sets up, or, separate PINs may besupported and used for separate wireless gift cards. PINs may be changedby a user at a later time (e.g., by managing a wireless gift card at aweb site or by calling a number used to set up the PIN).

A PIN may be associated with the wireless gift card to enhance securityof wireless gift cards by being required during management of a wirelessgift card, completion of transactions involving a wireless gift card,and the like. For example, to log on a web site that allows formanagement of a wireless gift card, a user may use a combination of amobile phone number associated with a wireless gift card and a PIN.

In some implementations, a PIN may be set up by a user other than anintended recipient or automatically by the system 100. For example, aperson ordering a wireless gift card may enter a PIN and the wirelessgift card may be associated with the wireless gift card at a system formanaging wireless gift cards. Then, a recipient of the wireless giftcard may be given both the wireless gift card and PIN, either separatelyor together, and, the PIN may be required to complete a transaction withthe wireless gift card (e.g., such that an automated number generatoralone is unlikely to allow an unauthorized user to complete a wirelessgift card transaction).

In addition to or separate from a PIN, other types of information may beassociated with a wireless gift card to enhance authentication of a usertrying to complete a transaction with a wireless gift card. For example,a name of a recipient may be used (e.g., which may be checked against aphoto identification presented by a user at a brick and mortar retailstore), an alphanumeric password (e.g., “Goofy24”), or a mobile phonenumber of a recipient (e.g., which may be checked against a mobile phonenumber associated with the wireless gift card, or further verified bysending an SMS to a recipient while at a retailer and verifying thecontents of the SMS or the receipt of the SMS).

Authentication information, such as a PIN may be used to redeem awireless gift card. For example a user may be able to enterauthentication information in a PIN keypad of the merchant point ofsales system 124. As another example, a recipient may be able to use amobile phone to dial a number associated with wireless gift cards, forexample to enter authentication information (e.g., through the mobilephone keypad or by voice prompt), and the authentication informationprovided by the user may be checked against authentication informationassociated with the wireless gift card. Then, a window of time may beprovided during which a user may use a wireless gift card (e.g., athirty minute interval, which may be renewed by authenticating thewireless gift card again).

As an example of using photo identification verification, photoidentification may be matched with a name associated with a wirelessgift card (e.g., a name in a wireless gift card message on a mobiledevice or a name that appears on the merchant point of sales system 124in response to entering an account number of a wireless gift card). Useof photo identification may be advantageous if the merchant point ofsales system 124 does not have the ability to check for authentication(e.g., a keypad is not provided for a user).

As another example of authentication during redemption, a keypad on amobile device (or other user interface, such as a touch screen) held bya wireless gift card recipient may be used for authentication ofwireless gift card in combination with authentication information andcaller identification. For example, authentication to the system 100 maybe determined by the wireless gift card account number being used, thecaller identification from the phone which is tied to the wireless giftcard, and a secret PIN known by the recipient. A window can be used to“pre-authorize” transactions within a set time period (e.g., 10-30minute window), or similar to use of a point of sale system that has akeypad, the point of sale system (e.g., a system without the keypad) maywait as a purchaser uses their mobile phone to enter in the PIN toauthenticate a transaction.

As another example of authenticating a wireless gift card, a merchantmay check to see that a wireless gift card is from a short codeassociated with wireless gift cards (e.g., a five or six digit sendernumber used by a carrier for carrier-based services). By visuallyidentifying the short code, and, due to a challenge associated withcounterfeiting short codes (e.g., they may be internal to a carrier andshort code messages may only be relayed by the carrier), this mayprovide a degree of authentication.

Authentication may be assisted by the wireless gift card server 106, thegift card account server 128, both or neither. For example, a PINentered at a keypad of the merchant point of sales system 124 may bechecked against a PIN associated with a wireless gift card at thewireless gift card server 106 (e.g., the merchant point of sales system124 may send a request for authorization to the gift card account server128, which may identify a gift card account as being a wireless giftcard account and may send a further request for authorization to thewireless gift card server 106 which may attempt to match a PIN enteredat the merchant point of sales system 124 with a PIN associated with awireless gift card account).

In addition to generating messages for wireless gift cards, the wirelessgift card server 106 may be used to provide other services related towireless gift cards, such as notifications, management of wireless giftcards, and other features. Notifications may include notifications ofreceipt of wireless gift cards, transaction notification, promotions,and the like. Notifications may be set automatically (e.g., as a defaultaction), set by the recipient, or set by the sender of a wireless giftcard. Notifications may be set up at a web site, such as a web site ofthe wireless gift card server 106 or the merchant web site 102; set by amessage sent by the mobile device 102, or through another mechanism. Forexample, a recipient of a wireless gift card may send an SMS replymessage to the gift card server (or, e.g., sending a new SMS to theshort code of the gift card server) and including text such as “NOTIFY”to start notifications or “NOTIFY OFF” to turn off notifications.

As an example of transaction notifications, a sender or recipient of awireless gift card might be able to sign up to receive a message at amobile device to indicate a transaction has taken place. This may beused for security purposes, to provide a receipt, to provide updatedbalances, and the like. For example, a recipient of a wireless gift cardreceiving a transaction notification may be able to contact the wirelessgift card vendor if an unauthorized transaction has taken place (e.g.,then fraud resolution procedures may be followed to resolve anunauthorized transaction; e.g., if a mobile phone number is associatedwith a completed transaction, that number may be used by authorities totrack down an unauthorized user of a wireless gift card). As anotherexample, when a change in balance occurs within an account, a new SMS orMMS message may be sent for a receipt with updated balance information.

As an example of a type of notification other than a transactionnotification, if wireless gift cards have an expiration period,notifications may be associated with an expiration of a wireless giftcard to allow a recipient ample time to use the wireless gift cardbefore the expiration (e.g., sending a notification one week beforeexpiration). As another example, special deals or offers may beassociated with a wireless gift card and may be sent to a recipient. Forexample, a retailer may decide to offer a special promotion inconjunction with use of a wireless gift card (e.g., 20% off on aparticular weekend) and the retailer may send a notification of thepromotion to wireless gift card recipients.

Notification may be provided by one or more of multiple techniques,mechanisms, or both. For example, notifications may be by mobilemessaging services (e.g., SMS or MMS), electronic mail, and the like.Notifications may be managed, for example, at a web site for managementof wireless gift cards that may be a feature of the wireless gift cardserver 106.

In addition to providing for management of notifications, the wirelessgift card server 106 may provide other features for management ofaspects of wireless gift cards, all of which may be managed at a website. Management of wireless gift cards may be limited to management byan intended recipient, or a purchaser of a wireless gift card may begiven limited management capabilities (e.g., tracking to ensure awireless gift card has been received and activated). Other features thatmay be provided for management of wireless gift cards may includetransferring wireless gift cards to an intended recipient, aggregatingvalue of wireless gift cards (across a same or different merchants), andthe like.

Transfers of wireless gift cards to other recipients may be performed asa complete transfer of a wireless gift card or to allow anotherindividual to use a wireless gift card (e.g., re-gifting of wirelessgift cards or giving it to another person, such as a spouse, to use).Transfers may be initiated through messaging services of mobile devicesor through a web site. To ensure a transferred wireless gift card isauthentic, a wireless gift card that is transferred through a mobiledevice may be required to be authenticated. As an example of anauthentication required of a wireless gift card, a wireless gift cardmay be required to be sent from a wireless gift card short code, suchthat transferring a wireless gift card may involve sending a message toa wireless gift card server to cause a message from the wireless giftcard short code to be generated and sent to a new recipient of thewireless gift card. To authenticate a user, a sender's calleridentification of the message may be checked and the sender may berequired to enter authentication information (e.g., enter their PIN in amessage or by calling an IVR system). As an example of a process oftransferring a wireless gift card, a wireless gift card recipient maysend a text message (e.g., SMS) to a short code associated with thewireless gift card server with certain key words and a sequence of thosekey words to cause the transfer. For example, an SMS with key words andsequence “GIFTON <ACC#> TO <NEW_MOBILE_NUM>” may gift a wireless giftcard with the wireless gift card account number in the “<ACC#>” to themobile number in the “<NEW_MOBILE_NUM>”. A server (e.g., the wirelessgift card server 106) receiving the message may authenticate a user(e.g., through caller identification of a message sent, by enteringauthentication information, or both) and cause the mobile numberassociated with the wireless gift card to be disassociated with theaccount number and associate the new mobile number with the accountnumber.

A web site for managing wireless gift cards may include authenticationas part of the process of logging in (e.g., using a combination of twoor more of a mobile phone number, a wireless gift card account number, aPIN, and the like). For example, a recipient may log on to a web site tomanage the wireless gift card and cause a transfer of the wireless giftcard by entering in a phone number of a new recipient and the number maybe used to updated a mobile number associated with the wireless giftcard and to send the wireless gift card to the new recipient from theshort code.

Transferring of a wireless gift card may involve sending personalizedinformation, as well. For example, wireless gift cards may be re-giftedusing the transferring service through a web site for managing wirelessgift cards and a new message including new personalization informationmay be used.

A feature that may be offered by the wireless gift card server 106 mayinclude allowing for requests of balances by a mobile device. Forexample, a reply to a wireless gift card with a keyword “BAL” in an SMSmessage may result in a responsive message that includes a balance ofthe wireless gift card. A balance request may result in a look up of aphone number and a return of multiple wireless gift card balances or asingle wireless gift card balance. A balance response message mayinclude a list of merchants, account numbers, and balance amounts.

Management of wireless gift cards may further include organizingwireless gift cards from different accounts, as a same cell phone numbermay be associated with each gift card account, or each wireless giftcard, and a web site may be provide from which various accounts may beaggregated by a phone number. This may be completely transparent to amerchant and allow brands to remain separate, but may provide therecipient with an ability to manage the wireless gift cards at a centrallocation. For example, similar to a physical wallet with different cardsinside. A recipient need not do anything to consolidate cards, asdescribed above, as the phone number may be linked to each accountautomatically (e.g., an association may be generated each time awireless gift card is issued and the associations may be centrallyprocessed such that a single phone number record includes multiplewireless gift cards; or, multiple associations with a single phonenumber from different records may be aggregated at a single source).

As described above, a wireless gift card may be used to complete atransaction at the merchant point of sales system 124 or at the merchantweb site 102. A wireless gift card may include an account number thatmay be entered at the merchant point of sales system 124. For example,when a recipient wants to redeem credit for a wireless gift card, theymay present a wireless gift card account number at a merchant storefront(e.g., a physical store, such as a GAP retail store location, or a website store, such as GAP's web site; e.g., to redeem for goods, services,or both). At a physical storefront, a cashier may enter in the number todeduct the amount from the account as with any other standard gift card(e.g., using a standard point-of-sale that accepts gift cards by entryof an account number).

Although not shown in the system 100 of FIG. 1, many types of featuresmay be supported by the system 100. As an example, there may be multiplewireless gift card servers 106, multiple merchant web sites 102, morethan two users, and the like.

As another example, merchants may collect customer data when purchasingand managing wireless gift cards. For example, demographic informationmay be collected, such as a customer's zip code or an area code of arecipient. That information may be used for demographic analysis. Thatinformation may be used to facilitate use of a gift card. For example, a“nearest” store location may be found based on an area code of arecipient and that information may be sent to a recipient.

Information related to wireless gift cards may be tracked. History ofuse may be maintained as a part of tracking. A merchant may continuallytie new wireless gift cards to a same account based on a same mobilephone number such that a history of customer trends that spans multiplewireless gift cards may be monitored and analyzed. For example, after aseries of seven purchases across three wireless gift cards where arecipient of the wireless gift cards purchases a latte at a coffee shopbetween eight and eight thirty in the morning, a merchant may have atrend automatically detected and a promotion or other message may betied to the trend where, as examples, a user may receive a discount atseven thirty in the morning good towards a latte or a merchant may senda message in response to a balance inquiry that indicates the recipienthas sufficient balance for two more lattes.

Rules for marketing campaigns may be generated by a merchant andprocessed by a wireless gift card server. The server may allow for rulesto be based upon numerous metrics including time, location, impressions,balance enquiries, a threshold number of recipients, other properties,or a combination of properties. For example, a rule may be generated foran upcoming concert associated with a brand of a merchant, where allwireless gift cards for that merchant to be sent to recipients in areacodes near the concert may include a particular theme. As anotherexample, as part of a rule of a merchant a first thousand recipients ofa wireless gift card may receive a wireless gift card including a tenpercent discount coupon.

Reports may be based on wireless gift card tracking. For example, customreports may be generated to give retailers information on customerbuying habits and other useful information. For example, a managementreport may provide a list of average balances held on accounts within acertain location. As another example, a report may be generated of anaverage amount of transactions for cards over a set period of time.

Sales of wireless gift cards may be based on a reseller business model.For example, value added resellers may have a business structureincluding card activation and re-load fees (e.g., a wireless gift cardreseller receives an agreed activation fee for initial activation andsubsequent re-loading by a consumer), transaction fees (e.g.,transaction fees or card usage fees that may be obtained by a processorof transactions), personalization fees (e.g., a wireless gift cardservice may provide for a standard “default” purchasing experience andresellers may receive a portion of a charge for customization servicessuch as audio or video if desired by a consumer), campaign fees (e.g., astandard wireless gift card service provides for delivery of one type of“default” theme to be delivered for all cards; beyond the initialdelivery theme, a reseller may charge an impression fee (similar totraditional advertising fees) that may be competitive with mobilemarketing impression rates; this model meets mobile marketing industrystandards for one-to-one impressions and may be subject to agreed volumediscounts and individual customized campaigns beyond a standard tool setavailable to a merchant), and report fees (e.g., a suite of basicreports may be free and available upon demand to a merchant, includingaccount balances and store activity; additional detail and fullycustomized reporting may be available upon request).

As another example, a recipient of a physical gift card may requestturning a physical gift card to a wireless gift card. For example, arecipient of a physical gift card having account information may go to awireless gift card web site (e.g., a wireless gift card web site thatservices gift cards for multiple merchants or a single merchant) andenter in gift card merchant, account number, and phone numberinformation. The wireless gift card server 106 may access the gift cardaccount server 128 merchant's and obtain balance information. Thewireless gift card server 106 may send a message with the merchant,account number, and balance information to the recipient.

Similarly, a recipient of a wireless gift card may request activation ofa physical gift card from a wireless gift card, which may erase awireless gift card or link a wireless gift card to the physical giftcard. For example, the second user 110 may visit a store, pick up aphysical gift card, and call a number or visit the merchant web site 102to have the wireless gift card associated with an account number of thephysical gift card such that transactions may be completed with thephysical gift card.

Although the system 100 of FIG. 1 includes a certain number and type ofcomponents, implementations may vary in addition to the variationsdescribed above. For example, there may be internet access or othernetwork access between the merchant point of sales system 124 and thegift card account server 128. As another example, the merchant web site102 may host management of purchased wireless gift cards. As anotherexample, wireless gift card replacements may be requested via themerchant web site 102 or a wireless gift card web site offered by thewireless gift card server 106, for example, if a cell phone is lost. Forexample, a wireless gift card may be associated with a phone number,such that a replacement wireless gift card may be issued to a phonenumber and appear on a new phone associated with the number.

FIG. 2A is a diagram illustrating a user interface from which to requesta wireless gift card. The user interface may be a user interface of themerchant web site 102 of FIG. 1. The user interface includes a web pagethat is branded in accordance with a branding scheme of a coffee shop,and includes user interface components for personalizing a wireless giftcard.

For example, the user interface includes a logo 202 of a coffee shop anda user interface area including a variety of user interface components204. The user interface components 204 allow for personalizing of awireless gift card with an audio recording and text message; indicatinga name of a gifter; indicating an amount of merchant credit to beassociated with a wireless gift card; and a name, electronic mailaddress, and mobile phone number of an intended recipient.

In particular, the buttons 206 allow for recording and previewing of anaudio recording, a text field 208 allows for entering a name of a gifter(which may also be a purchaser), a pull-down menu 210 allows forentering of a wireless gift card amount, a combination of first and lastname text fields 212 allow for entering of a recipients name (which maybe used for authentication of a wireless gift card), a text field 214allows for entering a recipients electronic mailing address, acombination of text fields 216 allow for entering a recipients mobilephone number, and a text field 218 allows for entering a text message.

Although not shown, another web page may be used to settle purchasing ofa wireless gift card by entering, for example, credit card information.

Although the user interface of FIG. 2A includes a certain number andtype of components and features, user interfaces may include additional,fewer, or different components, features, or both. For example, a usermay be allowed to upload a picture or video file. As another example, atheme of a wireless gift card may be selected from multiple themes.

FIG. 2B is a diagram illustrating a wireless gift card 220 on a mobiledevice. A border 222 illustrates what may be a border of the mobiledevice (e.g., an area surrounding a liquid-crystal display). Thewireless gift card 220 includes a logo 224 of a coffee shop being amerchant from whom the wireless gift card may be merchant credit, a barcode 226 of a wireless gift card account number, a wireless gift cardaccount number 228, an advertising space 230 dedicated to a jazz band, aname of a sender 232, and a text message 234.

The wireless gift card of FIG. 2B may be a result of the entry ofinformation in the user interface of FIG. 2A. For example, the name ofthe sender 232 may be from the text field 208 of a name of a gifter, andthe text message 232 may be from the text field 218 for a text message.The wireless gift card may be sent to an intended recipient specified inthe text fields 216. Some of the wireless gift card information from theuser interface of FIG. 2A may be retained as account information usedfor authentication. For example, the first and last name entered in thefirst and last name text fields 212 may be used for authentication.

Although the wireless gift card 220 includes a certain number and typeof components and features, user interfaces may include additional,fewer, or different components, features, or both. As examples, videomay be displayed, the advertising space 230 need not exist, a textmessage including only a text version of the gift card number 228 andthe text message 232 may be sent to a user of an SMS-enabled phone, andthe like.

FIGS. 3A-3B are diagrams illustrating user interfaces for managingwireless gift cards. In general, the user interfaces may be used by amerchant to manage wireless gift cards. In a first user interface ofFIG. 3A, themes of wireless gift cards may be managed. For example,three themes 302 of wireless gift cards are illustrated, each of whichincludes different features, as indicated in the lists of features 304.For example, a third theme 306 allows for bar codes while first andsecond themes 308, 310 do not.

The different themes may be edited by the merchant, copied, deleted, orset as a default, as indicated by the options 318.

Any of themes may be selected by a merchant as a default for sending tointended recipients of wireless gift cards. For example, the third theme306 is currently set as a default as indicated by a lack of having a setas default option in the space 312 in comparison to the set as defaultoptions 314, 316 of the first and second themes 308, 310.

In general, themes may be allocated for a wireless gift card usingvarious techniques. For example, some themes may depend on capabilitiesof a mobile device and may be allocated accordingly. For example, onetheme may be allocated to mobile devices having MMS messaging whileanother theme may be selected for mobile devices only supporting SMSmessaging. As another example, a selection of themes may be provided toa wireless gift card purchaser and the purchaser may select from thethemes (e.g., there may be themes for different occasions, such asbirthdays, Father's day, Mother's day, Halloween, and the like).

FIG. 3B is a diagram including a user interface to view status ofwireless gift cards. The user interface includes a pull-down menu 320for filtering a list 322 of wireless gift cards. The list 322 ofwireless gift cards includes details about wireless gift cards,including an account number, reference number, and balance. Although notshown, various features may be associated with the list. For example, amerchant may use the list to find a wireless gift card associated with amobile phone number of a device that was lost or stolen to cancel awireless gift card and re-issue it such that it appears on a new mobiledevice associated with the mobile phone number.

Although FIGS. 3A-3B include diagrams of user interfaces having aparticular combination of features for merchants, implementations mayvary. For example, the list 322 of wireless gift cards in the userinterface of FIG. 2B may include a text field for entering a mobilephone number that may be used to filter the list to include onlywireless gift cards associated with the mobile phone number.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a process 400 to activate a merchantcredit service, FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a process 500 toprovide a feature of a merchant credit service, and FIG. 6 is aflowchart illustrating a process 600 to settle a transaction with amerchant credit service. For FIGS. 4-6, a merchant credit service may bea wireless gift card service, as described above, and the operations ofthe processes 400, 500, 600 may be performed in a system such as thesystem 100 of FIG. 1. For example, the operations of each of theprocesses 400, 500, 600 may be performed by the wireless gift cardserver 106, the merchant gift card account server 128, or a combinationof the two.

In general, the process 400 of FIG. 4 includes receiving datacharacterizing a request to provide a merchant credit service (410),generating a message characterizing a phone number to authenticateactivation (420), receiving data characterizing authentication based oncaller identification (430), and activating a merchant credit service(440).

Data received that characterizes a request to provide merchant creditservice (410) may include, as examples, receiving a purchase request ofa wireless gift card from a web site offering wireless gift cards forsale (e.g., a merchant web site for which credit of the merchant may beapplied to purchases of goods or services or a third-party web sitededicated to offering wireless gift cards for sale). The request mayinclude an amount (e.g., an amount of money in United States dollars)and a mobile phone number of an intended recipient. The intendedrecipient may be the same as a purchaser or a different entity. The datamay further include personalization information that may be included ina wireless gift card.

Although not included in the process 400, a request to provide merchantcredit service may cause an account to be generated (e.g., at a wirelessgift card server, a gift card server for physical gift cards, or aserver that combines functionality of both) and return accountinformation to a server that generates gift cards for mobile devices.The account information may be associated with a mobile phone number bythe server that generates gift cards for mobile devices, and that servermay generate an SMS or MMS message that includes the accountinformation. For example, a message may be generated by interfacing withan API of a mobile carrier (e.g., VERIZON or T-MOBILE may offer APIsthat may be used to generate text messages by interfacing with SMSservers). Gateway companies (e.g., GOLDPOCKET or CLICKATELL) may be usedto interface with carriers to transmit SMS messages. In both cases thereany of several techniques may be used to interface with SMS servers.SMPP (Short Message Peer to Peer protocol) may be used to interface withSMS servers.

As another example, a gifter may visit a merchant web site to purchase awireless gift card to send to a recipient. The gifter may fill out adollar amount, recipient phone number and proceed through standardmerchant shopping cart user interfaces to complete a purchase. TheMerchant web site gets authorization of funds from merchant account andsends information (dollar amount, phone number, theme & personalmessage) to a wireless gift card server. A wireless gift card server mayforward information to a merchant gift card account server and receive anew account number that is funded with the amount, and the accountnumber may be used to generate a wireless gift card. A wireless giftcard server may automatically generate an account with a phone number asusername and account number as password, which a recipient may use toaccess their account through a web browser. A phone number may be linkedto many account numbers.

To associate personalization information, one or more interfaces may beprovided for receiving and associating personalization information to awireless gift card at the wireless gift card server. For example, a webinterface used for purchase of the wireless gift card may allow foruploading of images, video clips, or audio clips to be associated with awireless gift card and a text field may be provided for personalizing amessage to be included with a wireless gift card message. Thepersonalization information may be stored at the wireless gift cardserver or another server. As another example, a phone number may beprovided that allows for a wireless gift card sender to generate a voicemessage that is associated with a wireless gift card. The voice messagemay be included as part of a wireless gift card (e.g., as part of an MMSor an electronic mail attachment) or may be retrievable by anothermechanism. For example, a voice message may be retrievable by dialing aphone number associated with a server that stores voice messages forwireless gift cards and a number, such as wireless gift card number, maybe used to retrieve the voice message. Other multimedia may be includedwith a wireless gift card, such as promotions or advertisements of aretailer associated with a wireless gift card.

A message characterizing a phone number to authenticate activation isgenerated (420). The message may be a wireless gift card or a wirelessgift card may be sent separately (e.g., after authentication). Themessage may be a message to cause a server to generate a message (e.g.,an API call to an SMS server to generate an SMS message). In general, awireless gift card includes sufficient information from which atransaction may be settled (in whole or in part) with a wireless giftcard service. For example, a wireless gift card may simply include anaccount number which may be used by a cashier at a merchant point ofsales system that is linked to an account balance that is used by themerchant point of sales system to determine how much of a transactionmay be settled with the wireless gift card. A wireless gift card mayfurther include personalization information, and advertisements orpromotions. The form of an account number may include a text number, abar code, or both.

A wireless gift card may include authentication information, such as aPIN, that is associated with the wireless gift card and required toredeem the wireless gift card. Authentication information may otherwisebe sent to a user (e.g., through a separate message or available bydialing a phone number).

Data characterizing authentication based on caller identification (430)is received. For example, a user may receive a message that includes aphone number for activation in response to which the user may call thenumber and an IVR system may use the caller identification informationprovided by a telephone company to identify the phone number from whichthe user is calling. The user may be authenticated based on a match ofthe number from which the user is dialing and the number to which themessage including the phone number was sent. Other information may beused in addition to caller identification to authenticate a caller.

A merchant credit service is activated (440). Activating a wireless giftcard may include changing an activation flag in a database of accountinformation for wireless gift cards.

In general, the process 500 of FIG. 5 includes receiving datacharacterizing a request to provide a feature of a merchant creditservice (510), associated a mobile device with an account based on amobile phone number from caller identification (520), and providing afeature (530).

Data characterizing a request to provide a feature of a merchant creditservice is received (510). The data may be a text message from a mobiledevice requesting a feature or a phone call to an IVR system. Thefeature may be, as examples, a request for a balance of a wireless giftcard, a request to transfer a wireless gift card to another mobile phonenumber with which to associate a wireless gift card, and the like. Amessage from a mobile device may be a reply to a message or a message toa short code. For example, a user of a mobile device may send a messageto short code for wireless gift cards that includes a keyword phrase“BAL,” which may be a request for remaining balance associated with awireless gift card. The message may include information identifying awireless gift card. For example, in a situation where multiple wirelessgift cards are associated with a same wireless gift card, the messagemay include a last four digits of a wireless gift card account toidentify one wireless gift card from multiple wireless gift cards.

A mobile device is associated with an account based on a mobile phonenumber from caller identification (520). In general, the calleridentification may be used to authenticate a user and identify anaccount for merchant credit services. The caller identification may beobtained from a message (e.g., from a text message from a mobile phonenumber) or from a call to a system (e.g., a call to an IVR system). Forexample, a user of a mobile device may be prompted to call an IVR systemas part of transferring a wireless gift card in which case automaticnumber identification to the system may be used to determine the phonenumber of the mobile device. The association may be performed at aserver that stores accounts for wireless gift cards, such as thewireless gift card server 106 of FIG. 1, or another server.

A feature is provided (530). For example, in response to a request forbalance and identifying an account of a wireless gift card associatedwith a mobile phone number, a message including a remaining balance ofthe wireless gift card may be sent to the mobile phone number.

In general, the process 600 of FIG. 6 includes receiving datacharacterizing a request to settle a transaction with a merchant creditservice (610), authenticating a user (620), and providing settlement(630).

Data characterizing a request to settle a transaction with a merchantcredit service is received (610). A request to settle a transaction maybe from a merchant point of sales system or at a web site. The data maybe a message, such as a message from one computer system to another,such as an application to application message. For example, a wirelessgift card server may receive a message from a merchant web siterequesting to settle a transaction relating to a purchase of goods orservices from the merchant web site. The data characterizing the requestmay include an account number of the merchant credit service. Forexample, the data may include a wireless gift card account number thatwas scanned by a bar code reader of a merchant point of sales system.The request may further include other information, such as a requestedamount for which to settle a transaction.

A user is authenticated (620). A user may be authenticated by one ormore techniques. For example, authenticating a user may include acombination of one or more of matching caller identification with amobile phone number associated with an account, matching a PINassociated with an account, matching photo identification with a username associated with an account, matching a sender of a wireless giftcard with a proper sender, and the like. For example, a user may beprompted at a merchant point of sales system to enter a PIN into akeypad and the PIN may be matched to a PIN associated with a wirelessgift card. As another example, a user may call a phone number thatprompts a user for the PIN, and a caller identification of the call incombination with the PIN may be used to authenticate the user. Asanother example, a user may enter a mobile phone number and PIN at a website when checking out to complete a purchase.

Settlement is provided (630). Providing settlement may includeauthorizing a transaction, indicating an amount for which transactionsare authorized, settling an account during an authorization window of aset amount of time during which a user may perform a transaction, andthe like.

Although the processes 400, 500, 600 of FIGS. 4, 5, 6 include a certainnumber and type of sub-processes, implementations may vary. For example,if in the process 400 data was received that did not authenticate a userof a merchant credit service, the merchant credit service might not beactivated. As another example, the process 400 may further includesetting authentication information for a user and associating theauthentication information with the mobile phone number of the intendedrecipient of a merchant credit service. Authentication informationassociated with a wireless gift card may be set by a sender or recipientof a wireless gift card. For example, at a time of requesting a wirelessgift card, a sender may input a PIN or other authentication information.As another example, a recipient of a wireless gift card may use a website associated with the wireless gift card server or gift card accountserver to set or change authentication information associated with awireless gift card.

As another example, the process 500 may include authentication beyonduse of caller identification. For example, when transferring a wirelessgift card a user may be prompted to enter a PIN in a message or for anIVR system.

The subject matter described herein can be implemented in digitalelectronic circuitry, or in computer software, firmware, or hardware,including the structural means disclosed in this specification andstructural equivalents thereof, or in combinations of them. The subjectmatter described herein can be implemented as one or more computerprogram products, i.e., one or more computer programs tangibly embodiedin an information carrier, e.g., in a machine-readable storage device orin a propagated signal, for execution by, or to control the operationof, data processing apparatus, e.g., a programmable processor, acomputer, or multiple computers. A computer program (also known as aprogram, software, software application, or code) can be written in anyform of programming language, including compiled or interpretedlanguages, and it can be deployed in any form, including as astand-alone program or as a module, component, subroutine, or other unitsuitable for use in a computing environment. A computer program does notnecessarily correspond to a file. A program can be stored in a portionof a file that holds other programs or data, in a single file dedicatedto the program in question, or in multiple coordinated files (e.g.,files that store one or more modules, sub-programs, or portions ofcode). A computer program can be deployed to be executed on one computeror on multiple computers at one site or distributed across multiplesites and interconnected by a communication network.

The processes and logic flows described in this specification, includingthe method steps of the subject matter described herein, can beperformed by one or more programmable processors executing one or morecomputer programs to perform functions of the subject matter describedherein by operating on input data and generating output. The processesand logic flows can also be performed by, and apparatus of the subjectmatter described herein can be implemented as, special purpose logiccircuitry, e.g., an FPGA (field programmable gate array) or an ASIC(application-specific integrated circuit).

Processors suitable for the execution of a computer program include, byway of example, both general and special purpose microprocessors, andany one or more processors of any kind of digital computer. Generally, aprocessor will receive instructions and data from a read-only memory ora random access memory or both. The essential elements of a computer area processor for executing instructions and one or more memory devicesfor storing instructions and data. Generally, a computer will alsoinclude, or be operatively coupled to receive data from or transfer datato, or both, one or more mass storage devices for storing data, e.g.,magnetic, magneto-optical disks, or optical disks. Media suitable forembodying computer program instructions and data include all forms ofvolatile (e.g., random access memory) or non-volatile memory, includingby way of example semiconductor memory devices, e.g., EPROM, EEPROM, andflash memory devices; magnetic disks, e.g., internal hard disks orremovable disks; magneto-optical disks; and CD-ROM and DVD-ROM disks.The processor and the memory can be supplemented by, or incorporated in,special purpose logic circuitry.

To provide for interaction with a user, the subject matter describedherein can be implemented on a computer having a display device, e.g., aCRT (cathode ray tube) or LCD (liquid crystal display) monitor, fordisplaying information to the user and a keyboard and a pointing device,e.g., a mouse or a trackball, by which the user can provide input to thecomputer. Other kinds of devices can be used to provide for interactionwith a user as well; for example, feedback provided to the user can beany form of sensory feedback, e.g., visual feedback, auditory feedback,or tactile feedback; and input from the user can be received in anyform, including acoustic, speech, or tactile input.

The subject matter described herein can be implemented in a computingsystem that includes a back-end component (e.g., a data server), amiddleware component (e.g., an application server), or a front-endcomponent (e.g., a client computer having a graphical user interface ora web browser through which a user can interact with an implementationof the subject matter described herein), or any combination of suchback-end, middleware, and front-end components. The components of thesystem can be interconnected by any form or medium of digital datacommunication, e.g., a communication network. Examples of communicationnetworks include a local area network (“LAN”) and a wide area network(“WAN”), e.g., the Internet.

The computing system can include clients and servers. A client andserver are generally remote from each other in a logical sense andtypically interact through a communication network. The relationship ofclient and server arises by virtue of computer programs running on therespective computers and having a client-server relationship to eachother.

The subject matter described herein has been described in terms ofparticular embodiments, but other embodiments can be implemented and arewithin the scope of the following claims. For example, operations candiffer and still achieve desirable results. In certain implementations,multitasking and parallel processing may be preferable. Otherembodiments are within the scope of the following claims

1. A computer program product, tangibly embodied in a computer-readablestorage medium, the computer program product being operable to causedata processing apparatus to perform operations comprising: receivingfirst data characterizing a request to provide a merchant credit serviceto an intended recipient; generating a message for the intendedrecipient, the message characterizing a phone number to call toauthenticate activation of the merchant credit service, the messagebeing transmitted to the intended recipient by a wireless messagingservice; receiving second data characterizing authentication by a callto the phone number to activate the merchant credit service from amobile phone number of the intended recipient, the authenticationcomprising checking caller identification of the call to ensure the callis from the mobile phone number of the intended recipient; andactivating the merchant credit service.
 2. A product in accordance withclaim 1, wherein the merchant credit service includes a feature forincreasing merchant credit.
 3. A product in accordance with claim 1,wherein the merchant credit service is managed through a web site.
 4. Aproduct in accordance with claim 1, wherein the merchant credit serviceoperates without the use of a client-side application at the mobiledevice other than a messaging service application provided by a carrierof mobile services with the mobile device.
 5. A product in accordancewith claim 1, wherein the receiving the first data comprises receivingdata characterizing personalization to the message to be generated forthe intended recipient and the message comprises the personalization. 6.A product in accordance with claim 1, wherein the operations furthercomprise: tracking use of merchant card services associated with themobile phone number; and causing a targeted marketing promotionalmessage to be sent to the mobile phone number, the targeted marketingbased on the tracking of the use of the merchant card services.
 7. Aproduct in accordance with claim 1, wherein the operations furthercomprise: determining whether the mobile device supports MultimediaMessaging Service (MMS) messages based on at least one of the mobilephone number, a lookup of a model of the mobile device based on themobile phone number, and a lookup of features of the mobile device basedon the model; and if the device supports MMS messages, the message is anMMS message; otherwise, the message is a Short Message Service message.8. A product in accordance with claim 1, wherein the second datacomprises a first code to associate with the merchant credit service andthe operations further comprise: storing an association of the firstcode with the merchant credit service; receiving third data comprising arequest to authorize a transaction associated with an account number forthe merchant credit service; requesting fourth data to authorize thetransaction; receiving fifth data characterizing a second code;determining whether the second code matches the first code; and if thesecond code matches the first code, authorizing the transaction;otherwise, declining the transaction.
 9. A product in accordance withclaim 1, wherein the message comprises a bar code corresponding to anaccount number associated with the merchant credit service and theoperations further comprise: receiving third data comprising a requestto authorize a transaction associated with the account number for themerchant credit service, the request based on a scan of the bar code;and authorizing the transaction based at least in part on the accountnumber being authorized for the transaction.
 10. A product in accordancewith claim 1, wherein the operations are performed by a wireless giftcard server that connects to a gift card server that contains gift cardaccount information for plastic gift cards.
 11. A product in accordancewith claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise: associating aplurality of merchant credit services to a same account based on themobile phone number of the intended recipient being the same for each ofthe plurality of merchant credit services.
 12. A product in accordancewith claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise: receiving thirddata comprising a request to activate a plastic gift card comprising anaccount number; and activating the plastic gift card, the activatingcomprising associating the account number with an account of themerchant credit service.
 13. A product in accordance with claim 12,wherein the request is based on a call or text message comprising anindication of the account number.
 14. A product in accordance with claim12, wherein the third data is part of the second data.
 15. A product inaccordance with claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:receiving third data comprising a request for balance remaining for themerchant credit service; and causing a message to be sent to the mobilephone number, the message comprising fourth data characterizing thebalance.
 16. A product in accordance with claim 1, wherein the merchantcredit service is a service of pre-paid credit for purchasing productsor services of a merchant.
 17. A computer program product, tangiblyembodied in a computer-readable storage medium, the computer programproduct being operable to cause data processing apparatus to performoperations comprising: receiving data characterizing a request to use afeature of a merchant credit service by a mobile device having anassociated mobile phone number to receive phone calls, the data beingreceived through a message in accordance with a messaging serviceprotocol; associating the mobile device with an account based on themobile phone number obtained from caller identification identifying themobile phone number of the mobile device from which the message wassent, the account being associated with the merchant credit service; andproviding the feature of the merchant credit service.
 18. A product inaccordance with claim 17, wherein the feature comprises a balanceremainder feature and the providing the feature comprises causing amessage to be message to the mobile device comprising datacharacterizing a remaining balance of credit associated with themerchant credit service of the mobile device, the merchant creditservice being a gift card service.
 19. A computer program product,tangibly embodied in a computer-readable storage medium, the computerprogram product being operable to cause data processing apparatus toperform operations comprising: receiving data characterizing a requestto use a feature of a merchant credit service by a mobile device havingan associated mobile phone number to receive phone calls, the data beingreceived through an interactive voice response telephone system, and themerchant credit service having been purchased through a web site;associating the mobile device with an account based on the mobile phonenumber obtained from caller identification to the interactive voiceresponse telephone system, the account being associated with themerchant credit service, the caller identification being provided basedon call information provided through a mobile carrier; and providing thefeature of the merchant credit service.
 20. A computer program product,tangibly embodied in a computer-readable storage medium, the computerprogram product being operable to cause data processing apparatus toperform operations comprising: receiving user-generated inputcustomizing a wireless merchant credit service to an intended recipient;determining a messaging service with the largest message lengthsupported by a mobile device associated with the intended recipient;optimizing features of the user-generated customized wireless merchantcredit service based on the determined messaging service; delivering theuser-generated customized wireless merchant credit service with theoptimized features to the intended recipient via the determinedmessaging service.